Last years referendum did show the majority of people on this island are supportive of gay people and it’s a great indicator. Before then, there was really no way to know fully.

When you’re a kid going through all those changes, and you feel different than the other boys/girls, it can be quite tough to deal with. You hear/read stories of people being bullied, kicked out of their homes, assaulted etc just because they’re gay. So you build it up in your head as this big, massive thing with a lot of self-doubt thrown in. Most of the time, it turns out fine and the reactions of people will be much better than you expected – either congratulatory or indifferent – and you feel like you wasted all that energy hiding it or worrying about it.

So, while it’s not a big deal for most people, it can still be a difficult thing to deal with as a teen.

Posing?? Oh dear..

First in with the anti gay Sentiments Tony. Noting new there,

Dry your eyes Jimmy, I was referring to the comment above mine that’s all.

The word puff is a word that is used to insult gay people. But you can go ahead and laugh at that if you wish Tony. Nobody cares what an ignoramus who has called for children to be taking away from their loving parents here on the Journal so many times has to say.

What on earth are you on about ? Chill out man, you’ll give yourself a heart attack.

What on earth am i talking about? LOL You know only too well what i’m talking about Tony.

“Why do people act like being gay is such a night deal still? Some people are gay, so what?”

because for a young boy of girl it is still a big deal. Being a teenager and being in any way different from the perceived norm is hugely troublesome for young people and when going through those tough teenage years anything which can cause you to be labeled as different is an issue.

Yes, Ireland has come a long way but it’s still tough for young people. While 100 people being fine with it is great, it’s the one person who isn’t who can bring you down.

Alan’s 100% right here. Nobody has to right to diminish this guy’s experience, especially if you haven’t had to go through the experience of coming out as a teenager yourself. You don’t just hit puberty and think “oh yeah I’m gay, I must go tell everyone and of course they’ll be OK with it”. Regardless of the support that’s there it is an extremely difficult process to go through and can take years to become comfortable with. We’ve come through leaps and bounds in terms of the referendum but a lot needs to be done in terms of developing a support system for teenagers and their parents.

A major part of the problem is that we raise our children to assume that they are straight. Lgbt children reach a point in their lives when they realise they are not what they are expected to be. All children should be let know from a very early age that they are loved regardless of whether they are gay or straight.

Why is it that every member of the LGBT community has abusive and/or divorced parents? Guess going against your biological instincts must be a psychological disorder.

@ ‘ Right’ Human Why is it that homophobic morons of the lie and create their own false statistics community have been brainwashed by their parents that to be homophobia should not be a part of mankind’s history.
Guess going with your disorder parent’s must be genetic flaw.
Look On the bright side though they have found a cure. It’s called education.

Tom: What could you possibly mean by that, I mean muslim bakeries would surely bake a gay wedding cake, they aren’t homophobic like the Ashers bakery in the North.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgWIhYAtan4

Im not anti religious, each to their own. But when I canvassed last year everyone without exception who said they were voting no said so because of “religious reasons”. I was spat at by a woman who said God would judge me. By far the most positive reactions I got were in the “flats” in inner city areas that people would normally think are no go areas.

Mursim, it takes a hateful bigot to know one. Take a minute to think about that one.

Dean people uses the same paint brushes to cover everything, just because A happens then B must be true as well, the same with Christianity, the Catholic Church and funny beliefs people have in their heads about things?
I would think that Jesus would support free will not because he would agree with certain decisions but as a gift of having free will to choose?

Because the Catholic Church were advising their adherents to vote no. A crucifix on the wall indicates the person in the house is probably Catholic and, as such, might well follow the dogma that views homosexuality as a sin. Any canvasser for the ‘Yes’ side would, quite rationally, be more nervous and less confident of a positive response on such a doorstep.

But I suspect you probably know that and just wanted to take this opportunity to undermine his point by implying that there was some less rational form of ‘anti-religious’ bias going on.

True. There were interesting deomgraphic going on. I was stuck for help one evening in Cork HQ and the loviest bunch of ladies in the twilight of their years came in to help me. All devout Catholics on their own way. Each, however, had a story to tell. The nephew or niece they loved who had to go, the brother that never came back, the tragic loss of life. These devout Catholics cut through the BS of what I consider to be an intrinsically evil organisation, they asked their hearts and knew what was right. The voted Tá for grá.

To be fair this is the journal. People aren’t as bothered about your sexuality as they are about your stance on water charges. For my part I judge people on whether they buy their round.

Normally people only read things they agree with and those who don’t just comment by using the headline…

Nice story, thanks for sharing.

Maby not to most people Link. But what do you think would have happened to gay people had they come out in 1916? An openly gay man in 1916 would have certainly have been kicked to death. Declan Flynn was an Irish gay man attacked and killed in Fairview Park in Dublin on 9 September 1982. His killers on been found guilty walked free from court and never spent as much as 5 minutes in jail. 1982. I was 14 years of age at the time. We were still seen as criminals until 1993. For me and many more Gay men last year’s marriage referendum was as significant to us as the Easter rising.

Graham, I suppose one reason we are taking about the Rising so much is because it takes away from the E.U. beast ready to introduce TTIP / TiSA Agreement on us all?

It was indeed JJ. And finally all of the children of our nation can be cherished equally. I remember the surreal experience of taking my mother to the polling booth in my childhood district. Despite being away for years, I am still well-known. People smiled at us, no beamed at us. Some patted me on the shoulder. Mostly older people. The people at the voting centre must have had some inkling of how things were going. They just filled that place with such good will towards both of us. The voting started Sat morning but the atmosphere hung in the air. Sonething historic was going to happen and it did.

Lovely Story Ian. It was indeed a fantastic day.

True Alan. They are more to be pitied than laughed at.

You should take your own advice Cal. Love won and hate lost. Good thing to celebrate in my book. Build a bridge – move on.

Let it go James.
Let it Go.

Again Cal You should take your own advice.